The fact that Howdy Doody has been kicked to the curb and is no longer in contol of the offense. We will finally have someone qualified to run an offense actually running it. That should make a difference. However, if the Oline doesnt improve over last year it wont make enough difference.

The fact that Howdy Doody has been kicked to the curb and is no longer in contol of the offense. We will finally have someone qualified to run an offense actually running it. That should make a difference. However, if the Oline doesnt improve over last year it wont make enough difference.

He is still HC a position that is above OC and he will still have a say so as any HC would.

Most of you Y'all listed the reasons I'm optimistic about the new season so I won't re-hash everything. I'll just add that we're due for some good luck for a change in terms of injury as well as the general "bounce of the ball".

There is one thing that concerns me though, and that's the Eagles. The Cowboys have been fortunate to have had two seasons of mediocre underachievement from the Eagles. Unfortunately, in neither instance did the Cowboys fully take advantage of that and capture the NFC East.

This upcoming season, 2013, the Eagles may finally roar back into contention - and then with four teams in the NFC East all truly and legitimately capable of contending for the division title, Dallas would be very hard pressed to win it.

I'm optimistic about the upcoming year because I think our defense, barring injuries, is going to be significantly better. Ryan's react defense was just a joke. An attacking 4-3 with our players should be much more effective.

I'm pessimistic because we've only added 1 new face to one of the worst, if not the worst, offensive lines in the NFL for the past 3 years at least. I can only hope that Romo can stay healthy because he's such an outstanding QB who can minimize the OL deficiencies. He'll still be under durress the entire time and will make mistakes because of that, but with a stronger defense, more turnovers, it shouldn't have as much of an affect on the outcome as it has been in recent years. Of course, it will give the Romo haters something to hate on.

I can say with a high degree of confidence that that's not even an iota of the optimism for most optimistic posters. That's the kind of thing a pessimist says when he's trying to pass off pessimism as if it's optimistic.

All you need to see is an injury to Romo (knock on Wood) to get an idea how much worse things could get in a hurry.

I'm optimistic because I believe we're adding contributions via youth more than we are losing to age at this point still.

Of greatest concern re: age is probably Rat, then Ware, then Witten/Romo.

But we have many players whose arrow is still going up - Dez, Lee, Carter, Claiborne, Carr, Tyron.

On the next tier, guys again who are young that we hope/believe are going to become contributors as well - Frederick, Leary, Parnell, Johnson/Wilcox, Webb, Hanna, Escobar, Murray/Randle, Harris/Beasley, T-Will.

Still others look to be steady - not improving necessarily, but not declining - Spencer, Hatcher, Miles, Church, Scandrick.

Specialists are rock solid - LP, Bailey & Jones.

This is a big year for the coaching staff I think and I'm kind of neutral there.

Garrett - I like how the org runs with him as HC. But he needs to make a W/L record mark this year. Build clear momentum, or better.

Kiffin - I respect his record. A bit nervous about recent past. Really like his assistants - Marinelli, Eberflus, Henderson. Really like the Bears recent T/O history and the Seattle style Kiffin says we'll emulate. We do have some playmakers and I could see it all coming together.

Bosacia (sp?) - Ok with a clean start versus DeCamillis. Though to be fair we've had some nice contributions from this group of late.

Callahan - I'm ready to have a coordinator in the booth giving the playcalling total focus. Also hopeful that year two for the O-line under his guidance will bring some growth via continuity.

I can say with a high degree of confidence that that's not even an iota of the optimism for most optimistic posters. That's the kind of thing a pessimist says when he's trying to pass off pessimism as if it's optimistic.

All you need to see is an injury to Romo (knock on Wood) to get an idea how much worse things could get in a hurry.

I sure prefer Romo as our starter. But I'm not sure I'm one of those who sees certain doom if he misses time. Orton has been quite serviceable (there's that word again) in this league at both Chicago & Denver. He apparently looked rusty in camp but he's too young to really lose it. I suspect its rust more than anything. And I recall our team being plenty effective with Kitna in 2010.

I sure prefer Romo as our starter. But I'm not sure I'm one of those who sees certain doom if he misses time. Orton has been quite serviceable (there's that word again) in this league at both Chicago & Denver. He apparently looked rusty in camp but he's too young to really lose it. I suspect its rust more than anything. And I recall our team being plenty effective with Kitna in 2010.

That said. I sure hope we don't have to find out.

It's pretty tough to make an argument that things wouldn't look worse for the Cowboys without Romo in the lineup, but, either way, pick your disaster, things could easily look a lot worse. That was my point.

1.) The offensive line
2.) The 4-3
3.) Romo being Romo
4.) The draft class (offensively, our defensive picks this year seem more like 2-3 year plans)
5.) Carr and Claiborne can play their game w/o first year pressure/jitters